For Silas Simmons “Sim” Hicks II it took his family, good friends, a solid support system and a strong will to overcome a life-altering injury.

Now the 30 year-old Natchez native is happily married to his wife, Cameron, and living in Atlanta with their newborn daughter, Mary Simmons.

Hicks became a quadriplegic after breaking his C5, C6 and C7 vertebrae in a diving accident in the Gulf of Mexico while in boarding school in 1994.

Immediately following the accident, Hicks was transferred to St. Dominic Hospital in Jackson where he spent a month in traction before surgery could be performed to repair his injured spine.

Following a successful surgery, Hicks then spent three months at Mississippi Methodist Rehab Center in Jackson.

Despite spending three months at MMRC, he said doctors told him that his quality of life would not be very good.

That is when Hicks found Sheppard’s Spinal Center in Atlanta.

“I knew if I was going to walk again, I needed to go to the best hospital in the nation,” Hicks said.

It was at Sheppard’s Spinal Center that he learned how shoot guns, water ski and fish while being confined to a wheel chair.

“I didn’t learn to walk again, but I got my quality of life back. I still had sports and my hobbies. It’s a different way of doing it, but I can still do it,” he said.

Once Hicks learned how to fire a gun again, he got back into hunting, which is something he has always loved.

“My love for the outdoors goes back to my father. He is a hunter and an outdoorsman and I owe a lot my love for the outdoors to him,” Hicks said.

“Going hunting and being in the outdoors is a great release when you are in a wheel chair. The outdoors is a great place to escape.”

Hicks said when he first got back into hunting it was very difficult. He said the first time back out, he could not hold his gun and had to Velcro the butt of the gun to a special vest. He said he shot a deer in his first year back, and that was assurance to him as a hunter that he would be able to do this again.

Over the years Hicks has improved and refined his hunting technique. He said at first he would hunt out of his wheel chair, which would sit on a trailer. The trailer was then set in the field, and camouflage was placed around it.

Now Hicks hunts in his wheel chair from ground blinds. He said it is a much simpler approach.

He also uses a specially made 7mm .08 Remington rifle. The stock is uniquely shaped so that Hicks can hold the gun with one arm and a pole that is attached to his wheel chair. Special alterations were also made to the trigger and a fishing reel-like handle was attached so Hicks, who has limited use of his hands, can fire the gun.

Before he refined his technique, Hicks said it took 10 people to take him hunting.

Now that he lives in Atlanta, Hicks said he only gets to go hunting two or three times a year, but added that every minute of the eight-hour drive is worth it to come back to Mississippi and his home. “There is no place like home, a true statement, but awful cliché,” he added.

“I am blessed to have a family that has ideal property for deer hunting,” he said.

Every January, Hicks comes back to Natchez to take his father-in-law and brother-in-law hunting, along with members of his family at his deer camp.

“Every time I go hunting, I relive every hunt I did as a kid. That’s what gets me excited,” he said.

Being a quadriplegic has not stopped Hicks from enjoying other outdoor activities as well. Since his injury he has learned to fish, play tennis, scuba dive and has even been skydiving.

He said skydiving was something he wanted to do before he was impaired.

“Sky diving is the most exhilarating thing you will ever do. Whether you have legs or not, it’s a different ball game up there,” said Hicks. “It was the ultimate high for me.”

Along with restoring his quality of life, Hicks said he is also proud that he has been able to battle back from injury, get educated at a great school and gain employment doing something he loves.

“My disability has never been a disability for me. Being in a wheel chair was just the hand I was dealt from my accident,” he said. “Being in a chair is all about regaining your independence.”

Since his accident, Hicks has lived his life as independent as possible. In 2000 he received a Bachelor’s degree from Ole Miss in history and graphic art. In 2002 he earned his Master’s in graphic design from Savannah College of Art and Design.

On July 19, 2003 hicks married his wife, Cameron, in Atlanta.

The couple had their first child in March of last year.

Hicks works in Atlanta for Network Communications and designs real estate advertising.

“I’ve never been able not to do something that any able-bodied person can do,” Hicks said. “Every day is a learning experience. I learn something new that makes life easier everyday.”